Carlos García
This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is García and the second or maternal family name is Lopez. Carlos Xavier García Lopez '''(February 18,1963 – September 21, 1983) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox from 1982 until his death the next year. García was one of the sport's most highly touted prospects and had two of the greatest pitching seasons of all time. He is the father of supermodel Mariah García. The White Sox drafted García out of high school in 1981, and he debuted in the major leagues the following year at the age of 19. He was named to the 1982 MLB All-Star Team, and won the American League (AL) Rookie of the Month Award in July and August. After the season, he won the NL Rookie of the Year Award and finished third in Cy Young Award balloting. The following year, he was named to the 1983 MLB All-Star Game again and won the Cy Young Award, pitched a no-hitter on June 19, 1983, becoming the 13th Cub to do so. In his last game of his career, García became the youngest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game. García was the passenger when he and his sister were killed in a collision with a drunk driver on September 21, 1983. The team celebrated him by wearing his jersey on the day they clinched the 1983 American League West division championship. In 1985, the White Sox retired his uniform number 34 to honor him. Early Life García is originally from Puerto Rico, but his family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts when he was four years old. He attended Cathedral High School in Springfield, where he was known as "CG" to his friends and was a member of the Panthers baseball team. In his sophomore season, he had a 12–2 record, an 0.99 earned run average (ERA), and 120 strikeouts in 84 innings pitched as he led his team to a runner-up in the 1979 conference championship. During junior season, he compiled a 9–1 record with 103 strikeouts and a 1.44 ERA in 63 innings pitched. IAs a senior, García pitched to a 13–1 win–loss record with a 2.35 earned run average (ERA) and 134 strikeouts. He also threw perfect game in his very first outing, striking out 15 of the 21 batters face.and batted .424 with 11 home runs and 38 runs batted in. García was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the playoffs. He was regarded as the top prospect in the country. García attracted so much attention from scouts and agents in high school that his father built a wall around the bullpen at his high school field to keep them from distracting him as he warmed up for games. García signed a letter of intent to play baseball for University of Illinois and was also recruited by Illinois to play quarterback for its football team. García turned down Illinois' baseball scholarship offer and never played college baseball, opting instead to sign with the Chicago White Sox after being selected in the first round of the 1981 amateur draft at the age of 18. Professional career The Chicago White Sox selected García with the 7th overall selection of the 1981 Major League Baseball draft. The White Sox signed García to a three-year contract worth $1.3 million, and a $1 million signing bonus. '''Minor leagues After he signed with the White Sox, García made his professional baseball debut as a minor league player with the Glens Falls White Sox of the Class AA Eastern League. After pitching to a 7–0 win-loss record and a 1.59 ERA in 14 games for Glens Falls, the White Sox promoted García to the Edmonton Trappers of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League. He finished the 1981 season with a 14–1 win-loss record, a 1.75 ERA, and 158 strikeouts in 134 innings pitched at Glens Falls and Edmonton. He was named the White Sox's Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Chicago White Sox 1982 season: Rookie of the Year Prior to the 1982 season, Baseball America ranked García as the White Sox's best prospect and the fifth best prospect in all of baseball. The White Sox invited García to spring training and chose to add García to their 25-man Opening Day roster. Also, White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf hoped that promoting García would buy him goodwill with the fans, following a fire sale the previous offseason. He was planned to be limited to approximately 150 to 170 innings during the 1982 season in order to protect his development. He was the youngest American League player that season. The White Sox scheduled his major league debut on April 15 against the Boston Red Sox. In his MLB debut, García pitched five innings, allowing one run on three hits with eight strikeouts. He became the seventh pitcher under the age of 21 to record at least eight strikeouts in his MLB debut since 1916. He impressed in his second start. Despite a rough outing against the Yankees on April 20, White Sox's manager Gene Michael told the reporters soon after watching García pitch, saying, "Carlos García might be the best young pitcher I've ever seen, at that age. I believe he will go far." On July 13, 1982, García was selected to represent the Chicago White Sox for the American League All Star team. He pitched a perfect 6th inning in the 1982 All-Star Game in which he struck out Pete Rose, induced Mike Schmidt to pop up for a flyout and struck Dave Concepción out. With this performance, García is one of only two pitchers in the history of the All-Star Game who struck out two batters prior to their 21st birthday for their All-Star debut, the other Bob Feller. Against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 25, García recorded 13 strikeouts, earning the 3–2 victory. With García's 14-strikeout performance against the Boston Red Sox on August 7, 1982, he became just the sixth pitcher since 1970 to strike out 13 or more batters in consecutive games. He established the White Sox's rookie record for most strikeouts in one game. For his performance in July 1982, García was named the Rookie of the Month for the American League, leading all qualified rookie pitchers in ERA. He followed up his July by compiling a 1.15 ERA with 69 strikeouts in 39 innings pitched in August, which resulted him in receiving a second consecutive Rookie of the Month Award. García's rookie season has been considered historic as his 4.2 Wins Above Replacement places him in the Top 10 player seasons among those under 21 years old since 1900. García's Adjusted ERA+ of 194 on the season also places him in the Top 10 all-time for pitchers under the age of 21, and he is only the fourth pitcher to record this feat in the past 100 years. His strikeout rate is the highest in his league, pacing the American League at 13.16 strikeouts per nine innings. At the time after his last start of his rookie season, García was number one in many pitching statistics in the American League, strikeouts (250), strikeouts per nine innings (13.0), ERA (2.21), hits allowed per nine innings (5.01), and Adjusted ERA+ (196), and WAR (8.4). García won the Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award and the American League Rookie of the Year Award. 1983 season: Last season After finishing the 1983 season strong, García started his sophomore campaign as the Opening Day starter for the White Sox, making him the youngest Opening Day starting pitcher. García recorded nine strikeouts joining Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, Ferguson Jenkins, Walter Johnson, and Cy Young as the only pitchers to do so on Opening Day. However, they lost to the Rangers. On June 19, he pitched a complete game no-hitter against the Oakland Athletics and struck out a career-high 15 batters. The only batter to reach base was due to an error in the top of the seventh inning, costing García a perfect game. García picked up his 200th strikeout of the season on August 2, the fastest player to that mark in Major League history at 128 innings. This was the ninth 200 strikeout season in White Sox franchise history. When he took the mound in the fifth inning on July 6, 1983, García became the youngest player to appear in an All-Star Game. He complemented this distinction by striking out the side, AL batters: Al Oliver, Gary Carter, and Andre Dawson. Setting up García, AL Pitcher Ron Guidry had already struck out the side in the fourth, putting down future Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Mike Schmidt, and George Hendrick. The two pitchers' combined performance broke an All-Star game record. García's last game was on September 15. He pitched the 11th perfect game in baseball history. At 20 years of age, he was the youngest pitcher to accomplish this feat. García had 13 strikeouts on his way to a 12–0 defeat the Seattle Mariners. The perfect game made him the first pitcher in Major League history to pitch a no-hitter and perfect game in one season. That game made García became the 6th player in Major League history to strike out 300 batters in a season, the first player since J.R. Richard did it in 1978. In recognition of his regular season performance, García was awarded the 1983 American League Cy Young Award as the league's best pitcher. He finished 1983 with a MLB-leading 12.5 strikeouts per nine innings, and 300 strikeouts, in 205 innings. He won 16 games, while losing eight, with a 1.73 ERA. For his career he had a 33–14 win-loss record for a .667 winning percentage and a 2.46 ERA. Pitching style García threw four pitches: a four-seam fastball that averaged 94–97 miles per hour (151–156 km/h) and topped 100.2 miles per hour (161.3 km/h), a slurve at 80–86 miles per hour (129–138 km/h), a changeup at 87–88 miles per hour (140–142 km/h), and an occasional sinker at 93–94 miles per hour (150–151 km/h). His signature pitch was a slider that broke down and away from left-handed hitters and down and in to right-handed hitters. The effectiveness of the pitch is marked by its velocity being in the low 90s along with tight late break; hitters often believe they were thrown a fastball until the ball breaks just before it crosses home plate. Right-handed hitters have swung through and missed sliders that nearly hit their back foot. Personal life García's daughter, supermodel Mariah, was four months old when he died, originally wanted to be a pitcher but became an actress model instead. Mariah's siblings, wears jersey number 34 during their athletic career in García's honor. Death On September 21, 1983, García was killed in a car accident in Chicago, Illinois, that also killed his sister Cheyenne. His sister Camila survived the car crash. Police reported that an individual driving a red Toyota Corolla car ran a red light and broadsided a gray Chevrolet Malibu in which García was a passenger, sending it crashing into a telephone pole. García and his older sister Cheyenne, 27, the driver and passenger in the Chevrolet respectively, were pronounced dead at the scene. His older sister Camila, 24, a third passenger in the Chevrolet, was taken to University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System, where she suffered internal decapitation and survived after undergoing five hours of surgery to reattach her skull to her spine six days after the crash. The White Sox canceled their game against the Minnesota Twins that day. Teams around the major leagues honored García after his death, paying tribute with a league-wide moment of silence and the display of his jersey. The Chciago Bears also observed a moment of silence before their Sunday game against the Baltimore Colts. The next day, the White Sox announced that they would retire García's uniform number, No. 34, in his honor, and all players wore his jersey for the rest of the season. The city of Chicago and the White Sox held a public memorial and funeral procession for García on September 30. Aftermath and legacy White Sox General Manager Tony La Russa released a statement as well: The White Sox family has suffered a tremendous loss today. We are deeply saddened and shocked by this tragic loss. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Carlos's parents, friends, loved ones and fans. The White Sox postponed the game against the Minnesota Twins for the day immediately after García's death. In remembrance of García, for the rest of the 1983 season, a black number 34 patch was placed above the heart on the White Sox's uniforms, his locker in the Comiskey Park of Chicago clubhouse remained as it was, and a locker was assigned to him on road games. The team hung one of García's jerseys in their dugout during games. A black-and-white photo of García and his siblings along with his name and number was added to the center field fence at Comiskey Park. A makeshift shrine, dedicated to García, was established outside the home plate gates to Comiskey Park. The makeshift shrine was maintained by White Sox personnel until its removal in December 1983. On September 28, 1983, when the White Sox celebrated winning the American League West division, they honored García by wearing his jersey, and then gathered in front of the outfield wall memorial for a team picture. The team also took pictures with the García family. García's teammates voted to give his family a full playoff share for the 1983 playoffs worth $138,038.57. The White Sox established the Carlos García Pitcher of the Year award given to an White Sox pitcher for outstanding performance throughout the regular season. The team commissioned Harry Weber to create a bronze statue of García, which will be on display in the Comiskey Park trophy case. Smaller versions of the statue will be presented to all honorees of the Carlos García award. The García family created the Carlos García Memorial Fund, which is designed to provide financial support to youth baseball organizations. The goal is to lend a helping hand to struggling leagues around the country to buy equipment and cover expenses to keep youth baseball functioning. The first presentation from the fund was for $5000 to the Little League in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Two annual events, the Carlos García 5K Run and Walk and the Carlos García Baseball Camp, have been established to benefit the foundation. García's number 21 jersey was retired by Catherdal High School Panthers, on June 20, 1990. The Kernels, the Kernels Foundation, and the García family also established the Carlos García Memorial Scholarship, a yearly $1,000 scholarship. Catherdal have worn special jerseys, which bear the likeness of a screen-printed picture of García, along with his number 34. The Little League Baseball field where García played in Springfield, Massachusetts, was rededicated as the Carlos García Memorial Field. The city of Caguas, García's home town, erected the García siblings Commemorative Wall at Forest Park honoring all three victims of the crash. Prior to the conclusions of the investigation, there were talks about honoring García with a statue, streets named after him, and plaques throughout the city. Today, a plaque showing his jersey No. 34, years of birth and death, and a blue ribbon exists outside of Comiskey Park. García is buried at Oak Grove Cemetery, in Springfield, Massachusetts, along with his older sister Cheyenne. The city of Chicago and the White Sox held a public memorial and funeral procession for García on September 28. His ashes were scattered in the sea on October 2. See also * List of baseball players who died during their careers * Hometown Heroes * Pitchers who have thrown a perfect game * List of Major League Baseball pitchers who have struck out three batters on nine pitches * List of Major League Baseball no-hitters * List of Major League Baseball individual streaks References # Jump up^ G